Former President George W. Bush and Laura released a statement through the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Monday. It hits all the right notes and the Bushes voiced the feelings and fears of many of us. They feel a “deep sadness” and their hearts are heavy.

When the terrorists hit us on 9/11/01, one thing was clear and that was a sigh of relief that Bush won the 2000 election and not Al Gore. What if Bill Clinton had responded in a forceful way when the first attack happened at the World Trade Center in 1993? We don’t know. We do know that bin Laden continued to plot attacks on the U.S. Bush responded quickly and with force. We can argue about the futility of trying to rout out the rise of terrorism coming from the region but the fact is that the American military successfully performed its mission – to take out the enemy, to deny Al Qaeda a safe haven, and to destroy terrorist training camps. The Bush administration didn’t kill bin Laden but the next administration did, despite Joe Biden’s advice that the attack on his compound not go forward. The point is that Afghanistan has a long history of foreign powers fighting in the country, with the nickname of the Graveyard of Empires. The results were always going to be a crapshoot but 21 years ago Bush did what was required of him. He struck back and America was grateful for his leadership.

Now Bush has reached out and thanked the military for its work and the sacrifices made. He and Laura also want to make sure that the Afghanis who supported American soldiers are not left behind to be killed by the Taliban now. Also, they voice concern for women and girls who now face losing all the steps toward a better life they gained over the last two decades. Women are wearing hijabs again and are staying off the streets. The future for them is uncertain right now.

The letter from the Bushes encourages the Biden administration to cut the red tape and evacuate Afghanis who supported the Americans.

Laura and I have been watching the tragic events unfolding in Afghanistan with deep sadness. Our hearts are heavy for both the Afghan people who have suffered so much and for the Americans and NATO allies who have sacrificed so much.

The Afghans now at the greatest risk are the same ones who have been on the forefront of progress inside their nation. President Biden has promised to evacuate these Afghans, along with American citizens and our allies. The United States government has the legal authority to cut the red tape for refugees during urgent humanitarian crises. And we have the responsibility and the resources to secure safe passage for them now, without bureaucratic delay. Our most stalwart allies, along with private NGOs, are ready to help.

Laura and I are confident that the evacuation efforts will be effective because they are being carried out by the remarkable men and women of the United States Armed Forces, diplomatic corps, and intelligence community. And we want to speak to them directly, along with the veterans who have served in Afghanistan.

Bush was respected by the military and he was their biggest cheerleader. Since he left office, he has continued his support with charity events for veterans and events to honor warriors. His confidence in America doing the right thing is still evident.

Many of you deal with wounds of war, both visible and invisible. And some of your brothers and sisters in arms made the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terror. Each day, we have been humbled by your commitment and your courage. You took out a brutal enemy and denied Al Qaeda a safe haven while building schools, sending supplies, and providing medical care. You kept America safe from further terror attacks, provided two decades of security and opportunity for millions, and made America proud. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and will always honor your contributions.

In times like these, it can be hard to remain optimistic. Laura and I will steadfastly remain so. Like our country, Afghanistan is also made up of resilient, vibrant people. Nearly 65 percent of the population is under twenty-five years old. The choices they will make for opportunity, education, and liberty will also determine Afghanistan’s future. As Dr. Sakena Yacoobi of the Afghan Institute of Learning, which has opened schools for girls and women around the nation, wrote this week: “While we are afraid, we are not defeated.” She added, “Ideas do not disappear so easily. One cannot kill whispers on the wind. The Taliban cannot crush a dream. We will prevail, even if it takes longer than we wanted it to.”

Laura and I, along with the team at the Bush Center, stand ready as Americans to lend our support and assistance in this time of need. Let us all resolve to be united in saving lives and praying for the people of Afghanistan.

They must be as horrified as the rest of us at the scenes on our screens. Joe Biden has botched up the events on the ground so badly that it is heartbreaking. There were a couple of points from Biden’s really bad speech Monday that should be called out as the lies they are. Besides blaming everyone but himself for his decision, he put the blame mostly on the Afghani soldiers. He said they didn’t have the will to fight. That’s an odd lie because tens of thousands of Afghanis have died fighting for their country in the last two decades. More than 50,000 Afghanis have died since April 2015. Compare that to the total US deaths in Afghanistan over the two-decade period, 2,218 with 1,183 killed in action. One of Biden’s reasons for leaving now is that “Americans are dying”, yet there has not been an American lost in battle in Afghanistan since February 2020.

Biden cut off their support from contractors, 18,000 contractors have been withdrawn. The Afghani soldiers do not have the support they need and morale is low. There were only about 3,500 Americans in Afghanistan (plus some NATO-allied troops) so the Afghanis were largely keeping the Taliban at bay. Just a few months ago, only 90 out of 398 districts were under firm Taliban rule. Compare that to what has happened just in the last week or so. The Taliban is in control of the country.

Biden claimed he inherited a deal with the Taliban from Trump. This, too, is a lie, according to his own State Department.

Biden contended he was locked into a February Doha 2020 accord, yet his own State Department said that the conquests and the beheadings—and all that—put the Taliban in violation of “the letter and the spirit” of the agreement. Translation: Null and void.

The Biden administration asked the Afghan military to do the impossible. Since the days of the Vietnam war, America uses its superior air power in battle. Biden took that away, too.

But we left the Afghan military relying on a small motley air force, without a single bomber. What did we expect? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., pressed Biden for airstrikes but they appear to have been few and far between, mostly aimed at destroying US equipment to keep it out of Taliban hands. (And mostly failing even that. They’ll be using our weaponry for decades.)

So, thank you, President Bush and Laura, for speaking up for the Afghanis who are left to fend for themselves now. The soldiers and support personnel are to be commended and helped, not criticized by Biden, a feeble old man who has no idea of which he speaks.